ABC Entertainment News Reports on the Death of an icon.
NEW YORK Mar 7, 2007 (AP)— Captain America has undertaken his last mission at least for now.
The venerable superhero is killed in the issue of his namesake comic that hit stands Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported. On the new edition's pages, a sniper shoots down the shield-wielding hero as he leaves a courthouse.
It ends a long run for the stars-and-stripes-wearing character, created in 1941. Over the years, some 210 million copies of Captain America comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., have been sold in 75 countries.
But resurrections are not unknown in the world of comics, and Marvel Entertainment Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada said a Captain America comeback wasn't impossible.
Still, the character's death came as a blow to co-creator Joe Simon.
"We really need him now," said Simon, 93, who worked with artist Jack Kirby to devise Captain America as a foe for Adolf Hitler.
ABC News Report: Captain America Dies on the Page
I wasn't going to comment on this. Most of the time, a "super hero" "dies" and it's merely a means to boost sales, like having a wedding on TV during "Sweeps". They always find a way to bring 'em back! So why add to the "hype"?
But, AB frikkin' C News reported on it. And in National Review Online, Cliff May pointed to a 2003 paper done by Michael Medved lamenting how far the Captain had fallen and was being used by those who blame America first.
The Betrayal of Captain America
And I have to admit a fondness for the Captain in his prior, unsubverted patriotism. I mean, he practically wore the flag! He punched Hitler in the jaw a full year before America got into WWII for crying out loud!
But, I'm not one to get too excited about the political propaganda that seeps into comic books these days, because it's everywhere! Law and Order does a riff on a drunken Mel Gibson calling Jews names and he becomes, fictionalized, a man who hates Jews and teaches his son to kill Jews.
Real life abortion clinic bombers (with a few notable and widely denounced exceptions) set off their bombs in the middle of the night to destroy property and avoid injuring people. Is it wrong? Certainly! Is it bad enough for TV? Not quite! Clinic bombers on TV set off their bombs in broad daylight, in clinics full of pregnant women... because they're Hateful Christian Fundamentalists! There is plenty of popular fiction to corrupt the youth of New Athens without worrying about comic books! The demographic for comic readers is much older than when I was a kid. The world has come a long way since comic books were a dime!
But, Cap was a guy you could always count on. A man who loved his country and fought to keep the people of the world free. He ought to have remained unsullied by petty politics. But, what are you going to do? Some folks desecrate the flag. Others desecrate the man who wears one... RIP Cap!
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